Baby Animals
by CJ - Lady of Gryffindor
Summary: Luna wants a new baby pet - George better be on his toes! Just a little drabble my brain farted out!


Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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Baby Animals

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"George?"

"Hmmm?"

"I think we should adopt a baby elephant."

Buried in his inventory and order forms, he had only been half listening. His inner alarm trilled at the word elephant, but he shook it off. It was far from the strangest thing she had ever wanted to bring home.

"We don't have room for an elephant."

Luna marked the page in her book and set it in her lap.

"A baby elephant wouldn't take up _that_ much room."

"It wouldn't be a baby forever."

Luna thought about that for a minute; it was certainly true, babies didn't stay small forever. Their children sure hadn't. So maybe an elephant _would_ be a _bit_ impractical.

"I guess you're right."

George nodded, putting the subject to rest.

"Then, how about a baby giraffe?" She smiled, feeling that she had come up with the perfect solution. Giraffes didn't take up _that much_ room.

"Where in the world would we put a giraffe?"

"In the meadow." She smiled triumphantly

"The meadow isn't ours, it belongs to Mum and Dad, and Percy."

"But your mum and dad…"

"You'll never get Percy to agree."

"He said I could put a Crumple – Horned Snorkack there."

"Your father has to catch one first."

Luna sighed, true that. She brightened once again.

"I heard Hagrid is about to hatch a new breed of…"

George dropped his ledger, turned and gave her a sharp, stern look.

"No." He shook his head at her. "We still haven't finished rebuilding the shed after the last time you brought one of Hagrid's monsters home."

"It wasn't a monster, it was cute, and sweet, and it…"

"Breathed fire." He turned back to his papers. "The bloody thing breathed fire."

Luna let out an exasperated sigh and turned on her side away from him. Even after twenty years of marriage, she loved George as much as she had the day they were married. More even. But what had happened to the reckless, carefree boy she had first known at Hogwarts?

"You're being so unfair!"

Realizing she was upset, George turned on his side and tried to pull her back against him.

"Luna…"

She buried her face in the pillow and pulled away from him.

"Come on, don't be that way." He kissed the back of her head, nuzzling her ear with his nose.

"Hmmmph!" she pulled further away from him.

"I know what this is really about." He sighed, pulling her back in against his chest. "You're still upset that Freddie is heading off to Hogwarts next week, aren't you?"

Luna broke into tears "He's just a baby! He's too young to leave home."

"No, he's the _last_ baby to leave home. Pretty soon it's going to be just you and me again." He couldn't say he regretted it either. As much as he loved his kids, raising the four of them had felt like raising forty. "Isn't that why you want another "baby" in the house?"

"I guess, but…" Luna pulled away, turning on her elbow to face him, her eyes alive with excitement – sparkling with the perfect solution. "George…let's have another baby!

"We can't!" He blurted out, backpedaling quickly. He loved his kids dearly, but at forty-three, the parenting finishing line was _finally_ within sight. Soon, the only kids under his feet would be the kind you can send home with their parents at bedtime. Zoey, their oldest, had just gotten married and Daisy was engaged. Molly was off at university. That only left their tag-along son who spent more time with his cousin Hugo than at home. The finish line was so close he could smell the paint.

Luna sniffled and turned on her side away from him again, leaving George to feel like a shit for being so blunt. He lay down again and pulled her closer, urging her to turn around. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and gave the only concession to her wishes he could make. The lesser of several evils.

"How about we get another kitten?"

Luna sniffed, her face buried in his nightshirt.

"You said I shouldn't bring any more home; that we already had too many."

"Ten is rather a lot."

"See, you're already taking it back..."

"No I'm not." He sighed, giving himself up the inevitable. If he didn't know better, he would have thought she had cooked this whole thing up with Ginny to trick him into getting her one of the new kittens at Harry and Ginny's. One of her longings that he had nixed weeks before.

No, Luna wasn't that devious. After twenty years, he knew her better than that.

"We'll go over to Ginny's tomorrow and you can pick one out."

"Okay." Luna sniffled, then turned away for a moment to flick out the light before cuddling into his chest to sleep. Moments later, his rhythmic snores began to fill the quiet and Luna slipped quietly from the bed and went to her desk to scribble out a note…

 _Ginny,_

 _Your plan worked like a charm!_

 _I'll see you tomorrow,_

 _dibs on the silver tabby!_

 _Luna_


End file.
